Garbage truck nearly hauls away Brandon homeless man

A sleeping homeless man had a rough awakening early Thursday morning when the trash bin he was occupying behind a Brandon business was upended by a garbage truck.

Just after 4:30 a.m., Waste Management garbage truck driver Donald Stone was about to empty a bin behind a business at 314 E. Brandon Blvd., when he heard Robert Hall yelling from inside the trash storage area of his truck, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Stone looked inside and saw Hall alert and standing. He had been sleeping in a trash bin Stone had emptied at a previous stop at another business about a block away. Sheriff's deputies and Hillsborough County Fire and Rescue were called to get Hall out of the truck using a ladder.

Hall sustained a small cut above his right eyebrow and was taken to Brandon Regional Hospital as a precaution, according to the sheriff's office.